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Tuning Forks Reduce Stress

December 12, 2014 by Tony Nec

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Principal at Sound Healing Academy
Tony has over 25 years experience as a therapist, coach and trainer.He runs the Sound Healing Academy and has a busy practice in Cornwall, England.
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Latest posts by Tony Nec (see all)
  • Live Distant Group Sound Healing - December 20, 2016
  • How does Distant Sound Healing Work? Part 2 - December 15, 2016
  • How does Distant Sound Healing Work? Part 1 - December 15, 2016

Tuning Fork Sound TherapyFollowing our tuning forks workshop in Dublin last week, we received this very positive email from Sheila OBrien, who was one of the course participants:-

Hi Tony,
Wanted to say thanks again, I really enjoyed the seminar!
Also wanted to let u know that after I came home I used an app to measure my husband Jonny’s heart rate variability (HRV) before and after the tuning fork protocol for general well being and nervous system balance. His HRV had been very low lately due to over training for a triathlon. It measured 55 before and went to 76 after!!! And has stayed up since with some slight variation. Cool!!!!
Sheila

The app Sheila used is called ithlete and it requires a finger sensor.

HRV is the gold standard medical test for measuring stress in the autonomic nervous system. A low HRV score indicates a high level of stress.

The US Federal Government, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), says that 90% of all illness and disease is related to stress.

The Harvard Medical School says:

“Too much stress for too long creates what is known as ‘chronic stress’ which has been linked to heart disease, stroke, and may influence cancer and chronic respiratory diseases. And illness is just the tip of the iceberg. Stress affects you emotionally, as well, marring the joy you gain from life and loved ones.”

‘Stress Management: Approaches to Preventing and Managing Stress’; Harvard Medical Publications, Harvard Medical School.

Sheila’s research shows that working with the tuning forks protocol developed by John Beaulieu for general well being and nervous system balance helps to reduce stress.

Healthy & Mystical Sounds at Bosnian Pyramids

September 11, 2014 by Tony Nec

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Principal at Sound Healing Academy
Tony has over 25 years experience as a therapist, coach and trainer.He runs the Sound Healing Academy and has a busy practice in Cornwall, England.
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  • Live Distant Group Sound Healing - December 20, 2016
  • How does Distant Sound Healing Work? Part 2 - December 15, 2016
  • How does Distant Sound Healing Work? Part 1 - December 15, 2016

bosnian pyramidSince it was discovered in 2005 by Dr. Sam Semir Osmanagich Ph.D., director of the Center for Anthropology and Archaeology at the American University in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Bosnian Pyramid complex has been stonewalled by mainstream archaeologists until recent scientific evidence which makes it impossible to deny the authenticity of this history changing discovery.

 

Over 200 scientists from different universities and institutes around the world have now studied the pyramids.

 

The facts that have been verified by scientific analytic testing include:

 

· The Sun pyramid stands over 722 feet (220 m) high one third taller than the Great Pyramid of Giza

 

· Radio carbon dating shows the pyramid to be at least 24,800 years old

 

· Material Analysis shows that the structure is from man-made concrete

 

· There is an 8.000 kg ceramic block under the pyramid in the underground labyrinth

 

· An energy beam, electromagnetic in nature with a radius of 4.5 meters and a frequency of 28 kHz has been detected and measured coming from the top of the Sun pyramid

 

· An ultrasound beam with a radius of 10 meters and frequency of 28-33 kHz has been measured on the top of the pyramid, as well

 

· The pyramids are aligned with the earth’s cardinal points and oriented to stellar North

 

“Although tens of thousands of pyramids have been discovered across the planet, none have the construction quality and date back as far as the ones in Bosnia,” states Osmanagich.

 

“Bosnia is the original pyramid, the oldest and largest ever constructed. It has an exact zero degree North orientation and is potentially the key to releasing information about ancient technology that can free the world of its dependence on fossil fuel along with offering the possibility of finding astounding medical breakthroughs in the scientific community.”

bosnian pyramids

Low Frequencies & Infrasounds

 

In May 2013, Professor Paolo Debertolis, from the University of Trieste, Italy went to Bosnia to research the archeaoacoustics on the top of the Pyramid of the Sun.

He found very strong emissions of low frequencies and infrasounds around the top of the hill.

The range in total silence and with an absence of wind was between 10 Hz and 70 Hz with a large peak around 48 Hz. The volume was not elevated.

This mechanic vibration is the most likely reason why so many sensitive people have the sensation of hightened energy when they arrive on top of the pyramid. They feel the vibrations!

Below a particular volume we perceive low sounds better by vibration through sensors in human bones than by ear.

The low frequencies and infrasounds found on the Pyramid of the Sun explain very clearly the sensation of mysticism which some people perceive in this place and how its very easy for those practising meditation to apply this technique at this site.

He indicates that these frequencies probably come from a nearby earth fault (or ley line) and are concentrated by the pyramid shape. In fact there are no similar frequencies in the surrounding hills.

 

audio recording bosnian pyramid

 

Click the link below to hear an unedited recording that Professor Debertolis took at the top of the pyramid

click here

Please use high quality headphones to hear the sounds. You will also hear sounds of buzzing flies, dogs barking in the distance and a plane flying over.

SONG LINES

September 10, 2014 by Tony Nec

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Tony has over 25 years experience as a therapist, coach and trainer.He runs the Sound Healing Academy and has a busy practice in Cornwall, England.
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  • Live Distant Group Sound Healing - December 20, 2016
  • How does Distant Sound Healing Work? Part 2 - December 15, 2016
  • How does Distant Sound Healing Work? Part 1 - December 15, 2016

SONG LINES

The aboriginal people of Australia navigate the bush by what they call the song lines. I believe they are called ley lines in England. Each line has a song which tells a story about an animal’s journey; there is a kangaroo line, a lizard line and many more.

song linesThey would connect to the land and listen to it’s music; to be guided to water and to other tribes; to get to where they needed to go.

THE SONG OF THE BUSH

This is the story of my experience of what I call The Song Of The Bush – just a tiny glimpse of the magic of the land.

I was twenty four and nearing the end of my five year journey.  It was  over a year since my first experience with sacred sound, but that’s another story – a lot darker tale than this one.

I was on my way to a festival near the Blue Mountains, hitch hiking the thousand kilometer trek across the desert from Melbourne. The first day had been very good for lifts.  I had made it over half way and at two in the morning I had got out a truck, climbed a hill and put up my tent under the stars.

I was in a very good space in myself, it is properly the cleanest I have been in my life, living off fresh organic food, I had cut alcohol out and I had even given up smoking a month before.

The next morning I had packed up my tent, had a mediation and headed back to the road.  Within minutes an old bus pulled up and I got in to see a group of hippies in their early twenties who just happened to heading to the same festival.

The bus was amazing, it was like being in a house with a kitchen and bunk beds, flowers hanging from the roof and crystals everywhere.

The journey began with crystal healings and reki as we took it in turns to drive.

And then it happened….

First we noticed the smoke that filled the bus. Then flames erupted from the floor. We pulled over to find that the engine had caught fire.

Luckily the bus started up again, after the fire was out, but half the floor was gone. We had to jump over a big gaping hole every time we moved.

Eventually we made it to the festival. Unfortunately it had taken all our money to get us there and we could not pay to get in.

The man at the gate, instead of turning us away, talked to other people at the festival and people  who we had never met before came up with some money and paid for us to get in.

The festival itself was small, only two hundred people and strangely nearly thirty people called Rob which made conversation interesting in the chai tent as lots of heads turned every time someone said the name.

We were in a small valley surrounded by lush green rainforest in which a small river deep enough for swimming ran through. On the beach of the river was a fire heated hot tube that could hold quite a number of people. Near to this were the workshop tents and the days were spent learning shamanism, yoga, meditation and other spiritual delights. Once the entry fee had been paid everything else was free.

singing the song linesIn the centre of the valley was the fire where we gathered for communal meals, fresh organic vegan food that sparkled on the plate and uplifted before the very first mouthful. By night we danced naked around the fire to the sound of didgeridoo and drum for there were no electric instruments, speakers or pop stars.

After about seven days, time was slightly lost and it was hard to remember I decided to go for a hike. I walked bare footed through the trees, not caring for snakes or spiders which was normal back then, they only scared me for the first few years, until I came to a sheer cliff.

I started to climb. Eventually I reached the top and there I sat crossed legged and meditated.

The view was amazing, lush green and light. It took my breath away, the trees seemed to fill my very being.

Down in the valley below came the sound of drums, a soft gentle rhythm that carried my mind into stillness.

The grass hoppers around me started chirping along to the rhythm, then at just the right moment a parrot would squawk then a kookaburra would laugh.

The wind sang a harmony through the trees and a stream near by tricked a sweet melody. The whole land filled me with its song as my own being seemed to be humming along as the drummers kept the time.

Suddenly I was brought back as three flys bit the skin of my hand and the music was gone, the drummers had stopped. But I had changed.

I arrived back to see people as spheres of light, not with my minds eye but with my own eyes. There physical and spiritual had blended. Waterfalls of light flowed from the trees ready to be breathed in, expanding out my own sphere with every breath.

I could see who had raised there energy by how big there sphere was and what colour they were emanating, and to those who could see like me no spoken conversation was needed. I could see people who’s spheres were greater than my own and how they grew with every breath.  I could see them smile knowingly as these people urged me to breath deeper.

Then came the deep red of a near-by argument and the spiritual fell away, people were physical again, the trees were green branches and leaves. I felt like I was falling, my stomach felt sick and my head dizzy and fuzzy.

I have never since raised been able to raise my energy to that degree since and I become full of my own emotional wounds when I have tried.

But I have never forgotten the Song of the Bush.

Written by Rob Ellam

Rob Ellam lives near Glastonbury, UK.  He is following the Diploma in Sound Therapy with the Colour of Sound Institute.

 

 

A Twisted Bowel: My Wake-Up Call

August 13, 2014 by Tony Nec

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Tony has over 25 years experience as a therapist, coach and trainer.He runs the Sound Healing Academy and has a busy practice in Cornwall, England.
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  • Live Distant Group Sound Healing - December 20, 2016
  • How does Distant Sound Healing Work? Part 2 - December 15, 2016
  • How does Distant Sound Healing Work? Part 1 - December 15, 2016

It was around 4 in the afternoon when it happened…………

I was alone in my office working hard on a marketing campaign to launch my new coaching business when I collapsed to the floor, writhing in agony.

I had never felt pain like it before.  All I could do was moan loudly, clutching my belly.

Fortunately some people were passing by outside on the pavement. The door was open, so they came in and called a doctor. The surgery was nearby and one of the doctors came over to see me straight away.

He took a couple of minutes to check me out, and immediately phoned for an ambulance. I was given gas and air and rushed to hospital.

After a series of tests and x-rays, they told me I had acute TWISTED BOWEL. They wanted to get me into the operating theatre for surgery.  I didn’t know much about twisted bowel at the time, but I did know that it caused a lot of pain and they were taking it seriously.

If you don’t know what Twisted Bowel is, please read the description below taken from md-health.com

“Twisted bowel is caused when the natural shape of the intestines has changed or a section of the intestines overlap. Diagnosing twisted bowel quickly is essential, as leaving this condition unchecked can cause damage that may lead to infection or death.”

OK, so I could have died from this

That wasn’t really on my agenda at the time!  I was only 46.

Later I heard stories of people and animals, such as horses, that have died from twisted bowel and realized that I was very fortunate not to be one of them.

As it happened I didn’t have any surgery or medication.

heal twisted bowelYou might call it divine intervention.  Or maybe it was a whisper from an Angel.  Or maybe I simply heard an inner voice saying:

“You don’t need to go through with this operation. You can deal with this twisted bowel thing on your own.”

And then the words came to me:

“Do what you love. Make A Difference With Healing Sounds”

So there I was lying on a trolley, still writhing in agony trying to make sense of all this, and then this healing process came to me:-

“Surround yourself with a warm vibrant light energy of healing and unconditional love

Breathe in and out in long, slow, deep breaths

Visualise the warm, vibrant light energy streaming in through your head into your heart

Allow the feeling of love and compassion for yourself to grow in your heart

Visualise yourself fit and well, living a happy life

Allow the feelings of love, the warm vibrant light energy and your visualisation of a happy, healthy life to radiate out from your heart into every aspect of your being as you release vocal sounds (letting out a deep groan was easy under the circumstances ☺)

Surrender and let go.”

So that’s what I did, lying there in the busy Accident and Emergency room (as they call it here in the UK).

And, do you know what? After just a few short minutes, the pain started subsiding. And after another few minutes it disappeared altogether.

WOW! There was no need for the operation. The Bowel Untwisted naturally. Amazing!

To cut a long story short, they kept me in overnight to keep an eye on me, and the next morning I walked out.  I’ve not had a problem with my bowel since that time, over 10 years ago.

So what did I learn from this?

I had allowed myself to get way too stressed in launching a new coaching business. I’ve no doubt that the stress was a major factor in causing my Twisted Bowel. The plan I had set to create a separate coaching business wasn’t right for me.  I had to let that go and allow something more appropriate for me to emerge.  I learned to integrate the coaching models and techniques into what I was already doing.  So now, health and wellness coaching is merged  into my therapy practice, and I love it!

I discovered in my own experience how powerful these techniques can be for healing: deep breathing, activating feelings of unconditional love, setting a positive intention, releasing vocal tones and surrendering into the NOW. I went on a quest to learn more about all these techniques.  In particular I studied sound healing therapy and the science behind healing with love and intention.

We can all access this powerful healing formula to help ourselves and others to overcome acute and chronic health challenges. This basic formula is natural, free and easy.  We can apply it anywhere, anytime.

From where I am now, I can see that the Twisted Bowel was my wake-up call. I could have died. Instead, I respected the wisdom of my Higher Self and stepped into a new way of being.

I allowed some big changes to occur in my life.  The healing went deep. I can share more about that another time.  I paid attention to the message I was given…..

I’m happy now.   I love what I do. I make a difference. I help others with Healing Sounds.

Have you had a wake up call? Share your story, thoughts and feelings in the comments box below:-


What is sound healing?

August 10, 2014 by Tony Nec

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Principal at Sound Healing Academy
Tony has over 25 years experience as a therapist, coach and trainer.He runs the Sound Healing Academy and has a busy practice in Cornwall, England.
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  • Live Distant Group Sound Healing - December 20, 2016
  • How does Distant Sound Healing Work? Part 2 - December 15, 2016
  • How does Distant Sound Healing Work? Part 1 - December 15, 2016

Sound healing blends the best of modern science with ancient wisdom to effectively help a wide range of health challenges.

Sound healing works on the principle that everything in our universe is energy which has a vibration. Everything in existence within the universe is in a vibrational state.

The frequency at which we normally vibrate is called resonance.  Certain sounds therefore will resonate with different organs and parts of the body.

sound healing resonance

Sound has been scientifically proven to have an effect on our autonomic, immune & endocrine systems as well as the neuropeptide transmitters in our brain.

Sound healing practitioners’ look at their clients from this perspective and seek to balance their clients ‘dis-ease’ through correction of vibrational imbalances in their energetic system i.e. their aura or electromagnetic blueprint.

When an organ in the body is not functioning at its optimum its sound pattern will be off, yet by re introducing the correct sound pattern this will help it to heal and return to health through the law of resonance.

This law states that when one energetic system encounters another, similar system, their vibrations must come into a state of resonance or harmonic vibration.

SOUND EFFECTS MATTER

It has also been documented how sound can effect matter. 80% of our bodies are water and the effect that sound has on water has been photographically demonstrated in Dr Masaru Emotion’s book ’The Hidden Messages in Water’.

Different sounds produced different types of geometric shapes within frozen water. Playing ‘Mozart’ produced beautiful symmetrical snowflake like crystals whilst discordant sound had no clear structure. You can imagine then the power of sound on the water within our bodies!

Dr Hans Jenny demonstrated how matter responds to sound using Cyma tics. Cymatics is the use of ‘Pure Tone’ or ‘sine waves’ within the audible spectrum to produce physical patterns within a medium such as liquid or sand.

sound healing cymatics

Every cell in our bodies has a unique sonic signature and ‘sings’ to its neighbours

Dr James Gimzewski, of UCLA, California, has taken a revolutionary
approach to studying cellular function.He uses an atomic force microscope, a kind of super-sensitive microphone, to listen to the sounds emitted by cells. The focus of this new science, called ‘sonocytology,’ is mapping the pulsations of the cell’s outer membrane, thus identifying the ‘song’ of the cell. Gimzewski’s work has revealed that every cell in our bodies has a unique sonic  signature and ‘sings’ to its neighbours.

Sonocytology is a potentially powerful, diagnostic tool for
identifying the sounds of healthy cells versus those of injurious
ones.

Dr Gimzewski, himself a Nobel Prize winner, is one of a
large number of innovative minds at work in our world that
share the vision of creating modalities to assist the body to
heal.

Audible sound healing therapy may offer the greatest potential in
non-invasive healing.

Does Sound Therapy Work?

June 16, 2014 by Tony Nec

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Tony has over 25 years experience as a therapist, coach and trainer.He runs the Sound Healing Academy and has a busy practice in Cornwall, England.
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  • Live Distant Group Sound Healing - December 20, 2016
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  • How does Distant Sound Healing Work? Part 1 - December 15, 2016

What is the evidence base for sound therapy? 

Does it work to heal and improve health and wellness? 

This article addresses these issues and outlines a strategy to help make sound therapy treatments more effective.

evidence based medicineThe ‘conventional’ medical professional is characterised by a reliance on what is called ‘evidence-based medicine’.  This term first appeared in print in 1892 though the movement took hold in the mid-20th century.

It is based on the belief that evidence-based medicine empowers doctors by providing them with the most reliable information, and therefore it benefits patients by increasing the likelihood that they will receive the most appropriate treatment.

The evidence is gathered by carrying out randomised controlled trials and publishing the results in respected peer-reviewed journals.  There is now a growing consensus about what factors constitute a high-quality trial for drugs, devices and therapeutic techniques.

The key factors are:

  • Having a large number of participants in the trial
  • Assigning the participants randomly to test and control groups
  • Using a placebo or sham – something that looks and feels the same as the item being tested, but is in fact inert e.g. if a drug being tested is blue with a red circle on it, then a ‘sugar pill’ also will be administered that will be the same size and shape, blue with a red circle.
  • Double blinding – i.e. neither the participants nor the doctors / therapists know whether they are administering the real or placebo
  • Standardising the treatment context and process to reduce the number of variables that could affect results

In recent years, it has been recognised that many trials that have been carried out do not match these standards and so are regarded as being of limited reliability and validity. In practice this means that different trials of the same drug, device or technique have produced different results. This has led to the realisation that it is perhaps unwise to rely too heavily on the results of any one trial.

Over the past 10 years or so there has been a movement towards systematic reviews and meta-analyses of multiple trials relating to the impacts on a particular health issue from a drug, devise or technique. In these reviews and analyses, trials that do not meet defined quality standards are excluded.  As a result the findings of these studies are treated with the greatest of respect by the medical professional, and are generally used to guide treatment protocols by doctors / physicians.

In this approach, one of the main questions asked is: “Does this particular drug / device / technique have greater positive effects on the particular health issue than a placebo?”

This is done in an attempt to discount the power inherent in the belief in the minds of participants that if they take the drug / device / technique then they will get better –  the so-called ‘placebo response’.  In other words the main object of these systematic reviews and meta-analyses is to discover whether there is something of value over and above the placebo effect.  If there is, then the drug / device / technique is regarded as being effective to a greater or lesser extent.

The movement for systematic reviews and meta-analyses has included assessments of some of the more prevalent complimentary and alterative medicines (CAMs), as well as conventional ones.

Acupuncture, homeopathy, chiropractic and herbal medicine are the most prevalent CAMs and they have been the most studied.

Please see below an example of a recently published meta-analysis on the effectiveness of acupuncture in treating chronic pain, published by the US National Centre for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), one of the 27 agencies of the US National Institutes for Health.

Acupuncture May Be Helpful for Chronic Pain: A Meta-Analysis

A recent NCCAM-funded study, employing individual patient data meta-analyses and published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, provides the most rigorous evidence to date that acupuncture may be helpful for chronic pain. In addition, results from the study provide robust evidence that the effects of acupuncture on pain are attributable to two components. The larger component includes factors such as the patient’s belief that treatment will be effective, as well as placebo and other context effects. A smaller acupuncture-specific component involves such issues as the locations of specific needling points or depth of needling.

Although millions of Americans use acupuncture each year, often for chronic pain, there has been considerable controversy surrounding its value as a therapy and whether it is anything more than an elaborate placebo. Research exploring a number of possible mechanisms for acupuncture’s pain-relieving effects is ongoing.

Researchers from the Acupuncture Trialists’ Collaboration, a group that was established to synthesize data from high-quality randomized trials on acupuncture for chronic pain, conducted an analysis of individual patient data from 29 high-quality randomized controlled trials, including a total of 17,922 people. These trials investigated the use of acupuncture for back and neck pain, osteoarthritis, shoulder pain, or chronic headache.

For all pain types studied, the researchers found modest but statistically significant differences between acupuncture versus simulated acupuncture approaches (i.e., specific effects), and larger differences between acupuncture versus a no-acupuncture controls (i.e., non-specific effects). (In traditional acupuncture, needles are inserted at specific points on the body. Simulated acupuncture includes a variety of approaches which mimic this procedure; some approaches do not pierce the skin or use specific points on the body.) The sizes of the effects were generally similar across all pain conditions studied.

The authors noted that these findings suggest that the total effects of acupuncture, as experienced by patients in clinical practice, are clinically relevant. They also noted that their study provides the most robust evidence to date that acupuncture is more than just placebo and a reasonable referral option for patients with chronic pain.

Reference

Vickers AJ, Cronin AM, Maschino AC, et al. Acupuncture for chronic pain: individual patient data meta-analysis. Archives of Internal Medicine. September 10, 2012; Epub ahead of print.

http://nccam.nih.gov/research/results/spotlight/091012

This meta-analysis essentially concluded that acupuncture is effective at treating neck, shoulder and back pain; osteoarthritis and chronic headaches.  This is great news for acupuncturists as many previous studies had not demonstrated these positive results, and it means that the very best of modern scientific research has demonstrated the effectiveness for some health conditions of a medicine that has been practiced successfully for thousands of years in Asia.



WHAT HAS ALL THIS GOT TO DO WITH SOUND THERAPY?

Unfortunately, the funding has not yet been made available to test the effectiveness of sound therapy in this way, as it is currently regarded as a minor part of the CAM industry.  Therefore we do not have the same level of evidence-base as acupuncture.   However, we can point to the effectiveness of recorded sounds and music found in some systematic reviews and meta-analyses that have been published.

We can also refer to the theory of how sound therapy works from energetic, bio-chemical and physics perspectives and then allude to how this theory applies in a similar way to acupuncture as a vibrational medicine and also to recorded music therapy.  We can then expect that future trials will also demonstrate the effectiveness of sound therapy.  Until that happens, however, conventional medical professionals who are part of the evidenced-based medicine movement, are likely not to take sound therapy seriously as a valid health modality, and we have to live with that reality.

In the meantime, though, I think it is worthwhile taking a fresh look at the assumptions underlying evidenced-based medicine, as this might help to re-frame the position.  The key issue concerns the placebo response itself.



THE PLACEBO RESPONSE

We’ve already identified that the symptoms of an illness or a disease can improve after a dummy drug or treatment protocol has been administered.  This is the placebo response.

In fact, David Hamilton PhD, an ex-biochemical researcher in the pharmaceutical industry states in his book ‘It’s The Thought That Counts’ that the placebo response is effective in healing between 10% & 100% of health conditions.

There is an increasing body of research that suggests that the success of many currently accepted medical procedures is unrelated to the physical treatment itself.  For example a meta-analysis of anti-depressant medication published in 1998 by Kirsch, I and Saperstein G titled: ‘Listening to Prozac but hearing placebo’ showed that the placebo response account for 75% of the success of the treatment.  See “Magic in Practice” Garner Thompson and Khalid Khan p xxvi.

Indeed if you re-read the article on acupuncture above, you will notice that in the first paragraph it states:

“…results from the study provide robust evidence that the effects of acupuncture on pain are attributable to two components. The larger component includes factors such as the patient’s belief that treatment will be effective, as well as placebo and other context effects. (emphasis added) A smaller acupuncture-specific component involves such issues as the locations of specific needling points or depth of needling.”

So here again, we see that the largest component of the success of acupuncture is attributable to belief & the placebo.

In my opinion, something that is so effective should not be discounted, and we should look instead at how it works and what we can do, ethically, to maximise the potential of this healing force.

Having looked at the numerous research studies into this phenomenon, Thompson and Khan have identified 4 factors that are generally present in patients when the power of placebo is actively working:

  1. Desire – the patient wants their condition to change for the better
  2. Expectation – the patient has a positive outlook that their condition will change for the better
  3. Belief – the patient believes that by following the advice of their practitioner and the recommended treatment that their health condition will change for the better.
  4. Feeling – the patient has a positive feeling about their practitioner and the recommended treatment

From this we can see that it is vitally important for sound therapy practitioners to learn and apply basic coaching skills and techniques that will enable our clients to have that ‘feel-good factor’ about us and sound therapy; that will increase their desire for and expectation of getting better and, at the same time, enhance their belief in us and the effectiveness of sound therapy.

In my opinion, we need to pay apply two critical factors for this to succeed:

Strong ethics – it’s widely accepted that medical practitioners should act ethically, otherwise the profession gets corrupted.  The industry is largely self-regulating usually via National Medicine Associations who punish gross transgressions of published Codes of Practice.  For example, practitioners can get disqualified for acts of sexual abuse on their patients.  This is enshrined in the legal system and malpractice of many forms is enforceable in the Courts.

One of the key arguments used against valuing the placebo response is that it is open to abuse by tricksters and fraudsters, who can make a lot of money from misleading the public by making untrue or over exaggerated claims to enhance the belief in the effectiveness of their products or treatment.

I believe that if we apply certain ethical standards to our behaviour and adhere to accepted Codes of Practice for CAM in general and sound therapy in particular, then we can and should work consciously to release the placebo response in our clients.  In particular we should not mislead our clients and make untrue claims about sound therapy.

Strategy – we need to put in place a strategy for working effectively with the 4 key factors underlying the placebo response.  We also need a plan that we can implement, based on the understanding that we can’t do everything at once.  We can’t expect to do everything it takes to fully activate the placebo in just one session.  We should plan to achieve that goal over 3 – 4 sessions.

In my opinion, if any client has not seen positive health outcomes of our treatment after 4 sessions, then it’s unlikely that they ever will, and we should face up to this honestly and stop working with them.  I’m not suggesting that all their identified symptoms of illness or disease should be cured in that timeframe, but there should be at least some identifiable positive outcomes that they are satisfied with.

I suggest that sound therapists should work systematically with the coaching skills outlined in our courses to build up each of the 4 factors underlying the placebo response.

In practice this means:

In the first sound therapy session you need to focus on building the ‘feel-good’ factor in your clients.  This is about establishing the basis for a high-quality relationship, characterised by warmth, empathy and rapport, in which we express loving-kindness towards our clients and they in turn feel a strong connection with us. In this first session, we should also lay solid foundations for our clients to believe in us and the effectiveness of sound therapy.

In the second session, you should focus on managing a process that builds their desire and expectation of positive change for the better.  You should also agree an action plan for your clients to implement with clearly identified outcomes.

In the third session, you should focus on helping your clients to identify and overcome any limiting beliefs they might be holding about getting better.  You should also monitor how well your client is doing in implementing their agreed action plan, and help them to break through resistances to change.

In the fourth session you should review their outcomes, celebrate any successes, honestly reflect on anything where there has been little or no positive change, and then decide whether to continue with the sound therapy process, and if so for how long, and on what basis.

“An outcome that satisfies an individual client’s needs (and does no harm) should be the prime objective of every session.”

This is a guide to how you can progress.  It’s a bit linear and fixed, and in practice, you need to be flexible and be able to adjust to each client individually and go with the flow.  Although, it’s likely to happen in a more organic process, it’s still useful to have some markers for a strategy and action plan covering 4 sessions, while also staying open to the possibility of instant healing!

We’ve devoted  3 Modules of our Level 2: Practitioner Diploma in Sound Therapy program, to covering the fundamentals of coaching.  These are designed to help you implement this strategy and action plan.

For more details of the Level 2 course, please click the link below

click here

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